Willis Edwards was another old school, loyal servant to Leeds United. Having an affiliation with the club
that spanned 35 years from 1925 to 1960. He played for the club for 18 years and stayed on for another decade
even after his brief spell of manager.
Edwards took over Leeds as manager just before the end of the 1946-47 season. Hampson had been demoted and
Leeds were as good as down when the board asked Edwards to take over. Leeds were relegated and he started
about the task of building a team that would take Leeds back to the top flight. Edwards did his best working
on the fitness of the squad and developing the skills of the players. Unfortunately though it was to no avail.
Leeds United continued to slide. It was as if Leeds were destined for the third division, Edwards had been an
excellent player but just didn't have the nous and hard edge to break apart and re-build a team from scratch.
After a hesitant but tireless effort from Edwards, Leeds did survive relegation finishing in 18th place. The board
officials at Elland Road had by now realised Edwards was not suitable for the position of manager and demoted
him back to assistant manager.
Edwards remained at Elland Road for over a decade working loyally as part of the backroom team at Elland Road.